Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The awful show got the axe (thank God!)

Of the still-airing new shows, Emily Owens, M.D. is probably the worst. The CW show could argue that the CW had a real problem with ratings. Except for the fact that Arrow is so far pulling in higher numbers than NBC's The New Normal or Fox's New Girl.
So Emily Owens, M.D. has no excuses. It is the worst of the
worst. Because the lead is played by Meryl Streep's daughter, few want
to talk about how bad this Grey's Anatomy rip-off is. When they
do, they want to pretend that the problem isn't Mamie Gummer. The show
sucks. Gummer is in every scene. How do you pretend that she's really
good in a bad show when she is the entire show?
Again, were she not Meryl Streep's daughter, the critics would be roasting her.

It was the worst show of the season. But, as Ava and C.I. noted, people did everything to make excuses for it. They're still doing that as the idiotic Deadline Hollywood insists today, ". . . and Beauty & The Beast has benefited by having the CW’s flagship drama, The Vampire Diaries, as a lead-in, Emily Owens followed the lower-rated Hart Of Dixie, which contributed to it ranking as the CW’s lowest-rated new show." So they'll even blame Hart of Dixie to avoid calling out Meryl's daughter.

I like Meryl Streep. If she's got a new film out, I'll always be interested. I'll usually buy a ticket (not always). But I am so tired of these children who think they can be a pale copy of their parent and get ahead.

What warranted Mamie Gummer getting a TV show? She was a great actress? No. She had a bit part on The Good Wife and really couldn't handle that. She was pretty? Oh, no. Let's not even go there.

They wanted her because she was Meryl's daughter. And because she was Meryl's daughter, they did a show that was completely wrong for the CW. It's about cute guys and pretty girls on the CW and they have little teen dramas. But there was a plain looking woman starring in a drama with "old people" and she was a killjoy (the character) and the actress was annoying and people are surprised, this crap got canned?

It only aired because of who her mother was.

She needs to work on her craft.

There are many actors of famous children who've distinguished themselves: Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas, Marlo Thomas, Tracee Ellis Ross, Anjelica Huston and many more. All of them had to bring something to the table that was different than their famous parent. If you're just copying your talented parent, why the hell should we be interested in you?

Why settle for an impersonation when we can watch a real performer?

I have hated this awful show since it went on. But I'm writing about it tonight because someone should have told Mamie, "You need to make your own way. Stop trying to be your mother."

Maybe someone will tell her that this week and maybe she'll listen, take it to heart and, as Ava and C.I. noted back in October:

If Mamie Gummer were 21, we probably would be softening the above. But
she's 29. She's getting too old for movie stardom. (With the exception
of Sharon Stone, most film actresses find stardom in their 20s.) She
can still go for it. And/or/both TV stardom as well. But for any of
that to happen, she's going to have to find what makes her special, what
makes her unique.

An e-mail asked why last night's post on Revolution was called "Revenge"? You had to watch the episode I guess. Not read my post. I got bored with it while I was writing it. Miles is driven by revenge and tells the militia head they're not family anymore. Rachel's rescued by Miles but not before she slaps him across the face for something he did in the past. Nate's father gives a speech about how he was a 'drone' before the power went out and people like Arthur treated him badly but never again . . . On and on, it went. The whole focus on the episode was revenge. Sorry I didn't clarify that in the post.

Wednesday,
November 28, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, in another
international embarrassment for Nouri Iraq loses their football coach,
oil production dips, some fools rush to defend Thomas E. Ricks, Senator
Patty Murray calls for a suicide prevention plan for veterans, and more.

As is too often the case, Howard Kurtz misses the point. It's a long drop from the Washington Post to the Daily Beast and apparently he injured himself in the fall. All together now . . .

It's a long way down. Which would explain his idiotic column today on the overweight and sexist Thomas E. Ricks appearing on Happening Now.
Yes, Howie, the program has a name. The fact that everyone wants to
keep ranting "Fox News!" goes to just how turgid and for-show the
nonsense has been. Jon Scott and Jenna Lee host Happening Now on the
Fox News Channel. See there, unlike Howie, I did the actual work. But
Howie's a 'media critic.' He wastes 27 paragraphs in a ridiculous column at CNN
and he can't even name the show but let's all pretend Howie's doing out
of sight work these days. In fact, let's all pretend that going from
the Washington Post to the Daily Beast is a step-up as long as we're
fantasizing.

In a telling and whorish moment,
Howie 'forgets' to mention the program's name but works in a plug for
Thomas E. Ricks' latest military porn -- what is it this time? On My Knees In The Steamroom With The Generals, Wrapping My Mouth Around That?

Howie Cut 'Em Off Kurtz feels that Snow shouldn't have wrapped up the interview the minute that Ricks criticized Fox News.

Jon
Scott: When you -- When you have four people dead -- including the
first US Ambassador in more than 30 years -- how do you call that
'hype'?

Thomas E. Ricks: How many security contractors died in Iraq? Do you know?Jon Scott: I don't.Thomas
E. Ricks: No. Nobody does. Because nobody cared. We know that
several hundred died but there was never an official count done -- of
security contractors in Iraq. So when I see this focus on [. . .]

To
be clear, Scott let him go on and finish his 'thoughts' on
contractors. I'm not including his garbage here. Thomas E. Ricks'
statements were innaccurate and offensive and it's very telling that
Howie Kurtz choose to whore instead of report. That is what ended
Ricks' segment. Kurtz pretends it never happened.

But
then Howie is among the many in the press who's written and said "Chris
Stevens and three others . . ." That is so offensive. And the press
doesn't care. They don't care that it's offensive to the memories of
Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith and Glen Doherty. They don't care that it's
offensive to the families and friends of those three people. They don't
care that it exposes their so called love for the troops as hollow and
bulls**t. Let's quote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:Today,
we also recognize the two security personnel who died helping protect
their colleagues. Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty were both
decorated military veterans who served our country with honor and
distinction. Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest gratitude are with their
families and friends. Our embassies could not carry on our critical
work around the world without the service and sacrifice of brave people
like Tyrone and Glen.Tyrone's friends and colleagues called him
"Rone," and they relied on his courage and skill, honed over two decades
as a Navy SEAL. In uniform, he served multiple tours in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Since 2010, he protected American diplomatic personnel in
dangerous posts from Central America to the Middle East. He had the
hands of a healer as well as the arm of a warrior, earning distinction
as a registered nurse and certified paramedic. All our hearts go out to
Tyrone's wife Dorothy and his three sons, Tyrone Jr., Hunter, and Kai,
who was born just a few months ago.We also grieve for Glen
Doherty, called Bub, and his family: his father Bernard, his mother
Barbara, his brother Gregory, and his sister Kathleen. Glen was also a
former Navy SEAL and an experienced paramedic. And he put his life on
the line many times, protecting Americans in Iraq, Afghanistan, and
other hotspots. In the end, he died the way he lived – with selfless
honor and unstinting valor.

Now
pretend you give a damn about troops, pretend all you want. But if
you're writing or stating "Chris Stevens and three others," you are
making very clear that you just don't give a f**k.

As
soon as all four names were released publicly, Marcia and I both began
using all four. It's not difficult to do. But don't expect anyone to
take your crap seriously when you want to 'talk' Benghazi but you don't
have the decency to list all four names. Of course, it was important
for the media to vanish these three because their parents refuse to play
along with photo ops the way Chris Stevens' parents did. These three
parents want answers.

I applauded the Jersey
Girls in real time (and applaud them today). I applaud any American who
takes on the system to find out why their loved one died (or where
their loved one is in the case of the MIAs).

Howie
Kurtz has proven himself to be an idiot and any words about caring
about the troops or anything else are flat out lies from him because he
refused to note the rude treatment of two Americans who died in an
attack that took place because they were American and he refused to call
out Thomas E. Ricks' bulls**t.

He had time
to plug the latest bad book from Thomas E. Ricks. He just didn't have
time to mention Iraq War veterans killed in an attack on Americans.
Whores make their priorities very clear and we hear you, Howie. Though
for how much longer is going to be the question.

Fat
trash Ricks is quoted by Howie saying his apology to Fox News was not
an apology "but rather an explanation of why I jumped a bit when the
anchor began the segment with the assertion that pressure on the White
House was building, which it most clearly was not."

As
we've noted before, Thomas E. Ricks is no longer a reporter.
(Congratulations to the European community members who made sure that
his billing was corrected when he went to Europe to pimp The Gamble. He
even got confronted to his face when he attempted to claim he was "just
a reporter." No, you're not. You haven't been a reporter in years.)
Clearly was not? Jay Carney made a ridiculous statement yesterday that
the press refused to call out. When you admit that the administration,
47 days after the attack, knows nothing, that's kind of desperate. My
opinion, that shows pressure on the White House. But it's just my
opinion, it's not fact and Thomas E. Ricks can no longer tell the
difference between fact and fiction which is why, on that segment, he
announced that Susan Rice would be confirmed as Secretary of State.

While
Thomas was digging through the hampers of various generals today and
holding the pouches of boxers and briefs up to his nose, I was at two
hearings. The one in the afternoon? Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. It was so the Committee could publicly vet two of Barack's
nominees. Susan Rice wasn't one of them. You had Robert Godec who is
nominated to be the US Ambassador to Kenya and Deborah Ann McCarthy who
is nominated to be the US Ambassador to Lithuania.

You
know who else was at that hearing? Senator John Kerry because he's the
Chair of that Committee. And while Thomas E. Ricks rubs his nose
against military officers' crotches, I actually speak to the people who
will be voting in the Senate. And today there was a surprising amount
of sympathy for John Kerry who his Democratic peers feel would be a
great Secretary of State and felt that this was in the bag after Kerry's
endorsement of and work for Barack during the 2008 primaries. There's a
feeling that John's not just qualified, that he's not only put in his
time, but that he's being snubbed in the most rude way possible. As a
Democratic Senator not on the Foreign Relations Committee said to me and
another Democratic Senator today, 'John's being asked to just go along
with this media circus and if Susan Rice is nominated, he'll be the one
to preside over that hearing. And you know it's tearing him apart but
he's never said a word against Rice or against Obama.'

So
Thomas E. Ricks lunatic idea that Susan Rice is beloved by Democratic
Senators for the Secretary of State post? He might want to get his nose
out of the hairy crotches of generals, wash his face and try talking to
actual Senators. (Though I doubt too many would want to talk to him.)

Decades
of service and public work is what John Kerry brings to the table. But
when it's not about qualifications, why should anyone have to wait
their turn? I'm not saying Susan Rice wouldn't get confirmed. I
believe Democrats will vote for her. But while Barack has angered the
nation by yet again picking fights when he should be focused on issues
that matter, he's angered Republicans and the assumption that he will go
with Rice over John Kerry is really doing damage to Barack's reputation
in the Senate.

This was not the fight to
have and we made that point the minute Susan Rice's name was floated
publicly. It's shown Barack to be petty and bickering, it's hardened
tensions between the White House and Republicans in Congress (House and
Senate) and it's left Democrats in the Senate demoralized as one of
their own, an immensely qualified candidate for Secretary of State,
appears about to be passed over for a woman more infamous for snarls
than for building ties.

Petraeus has been credited by Ricks and other journalists with
having abandoned violent "cordon and search" operations used everywhere
else in Iraq that alienated the entire Sunni population, and having
replaced them with "cordon and knock" operations. In the softer version
of targeted raids, the targets' homes were surrounded and the targets
were invited to give themselves up peacefully. But again, the NPS
thesis, based on the actual documents and the testimony of officers in
Petraeus's command, tells a rather different story.

It
turns out that Petraeus did not end kill-or-capture raids in Mosul: he
continued to use them to kill or capture those believed to be hardcore
insurgents, according to the NPS study. The less violent sweeps were
used to capture "less dangerous but potentially active members of
insurgent groups without alienating entire neighborhoods," the authors
wrote. And when insurgent attacks went over 100 for the month of
November 2003, Petraeus ordered a major increase in the level of
cordon-and-search raids in December, hitting 23 targets simultaneously
in one night. The number of suspects detained in Mosul soared that month
to 295 - nearly three times the average over the previous five months.

Those
targeted raids on suspected insurgents depended on intelligence
gathered by Petraeus' own command, Special Forces operating in the area
and the CIA. But how reliable was that intelligence? It is widely
acknowledged that, especially that early in the war, US intelligence on
the insurgency was woefully weak. The International Red Cross disclosed
in a February 2004 report on detainee abuse in Iraq that US military
intelligence officers had estimated that 70 to 90 percent of Iraqis they
had detained were innocent. Petraeus' operation, as elsewhere in Iraq,
had to rely on Iraqis volunteering information as to who was an
insurgent, and, as Ricks relates, Petraeus told him
"there were so many phony tips passed by Iraqis feuding with each
other that this softer approach helped sort those tips without
unnecessarily insulting Iraqi dignity."

Unlike
Thomas E. Ricks, Senator Patty Murray doesn't have time to waste
obscuring reality. As the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee, she's up to her neck with reality attempting to address the
many concerns and issues of veterans each day. Today, her office notes:

Murray's
amendment would make improvements to ensure that those who served have
access to consistent, quality behavioral health care

Would require DoD to create a comprehensive, standardized suicide prevention program

(Washington,
D.C.) – As it becomes increasingly clear that the Pentagon and VA are
losing the battle on mental and behavioral health conditions that are
confronting so many of our servicemembers and veterans, Senator Murray
gave a speech on the Senate floor today to offer an amendment to the
defense authorization bill that seeks to improve mental health and
suicide prevention services. The amendment is derived from her servicemembers and veterans mental health legislation, the Mental Health ACCESS Act of 2012, which unanimously cleared the Veterans' Affairs Committee earlier this year. Senator Murray's amendment would require the Department of Defense to create a comprehensive, standardized suicide prevention program; expand eligibility for a variety of Department of Veterans Affairs
mental health services to family members; strengthen oversight of DoD
Mental Health Care and the Integrated Disability Evaluation System;
improve training and education for our health care providers; create
more peer-to-peer counseling opportunities; and require VA to establish
accurate and reliable measures for mental health services.

Key excerpts from Senator Murray's speech:

"I
think everyone in this body knows about, and is distressed by, the
alarming rate of suicide and the mental health problems in our military
and veterans populations. We know our servicemembers and veterans have
faced unprecedented challenges: multiple deployments; difficulty finding
a job here at home; and isolation in their communities. Some have faced
tough times reintegrating into family life, with loved ones trying to
relate but not knowing how. These are the challenges our servicemembers
and veterans know all too well."

"We
must have effective suicide prevention programs in place. It's often
only on the brink of crisis that a servicemember or veteran seeks care.
If they are told 'sorry, we are too busy to help you,' we have lost the
opportunity to help, and that is not acceptable."

"While
the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have taken important
steps towards addressing this crisis, we know more must be done. We know
that any solution depends upon reducing wait times and improving access
to mental health care; ensuring proper diagnosis; and achieving true
coordination of care and information between the Departments."

"Some have faced tough times reintegrating into family life, with loved ones trying to relate but not knowing how.

"These are the challenges our servicemembers and veterans know all too well.

"But
even as they turn to us for help, we're losing the battle. Time and
time again, we've lost servicemembers and veterans to suicide.

"But
while the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have taken
important steps towards addressing this crisis, we know more must be
done.

"We
know that any solution depends upon reducing wait times and improving
access to mental health care; ensuring proper diagnosis; and achieving
true coordination of care and information between the Departments.

"This amendment would require a comprehensive, standardized suicide prevention program across the DoD.

"It
would require the use of the best medical practices, in suicide
prevention and behavioral health programs to address serious gaps in

the current programs.

"This amendment would expand eligibility for VA mental health services to family members of veterans.

"The amendment would also give servicemembers an opportunity to

serve
as peer counselors to fellow Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and create a
quality assurance program for the historically troubled disability
evaluation system.

"It
would require VA to offer peer support services at all medical centers
and create opportunities to train more veterans to provide peer
services.

Meanwhile in Iraq, where Nouri's reputation really can't handle too many other hits, there's news of another loss. Xinhua explains,
"Brazil's soccer legend Artur Antunes Coimbra, beter known as Zico,
resigned as coach of the Iraqi national team after he accused the Iraqi
Football Association (IFA) of failing to meet his contract obligations."
ESPN reports,
"Iraq are currently in third place in Asia's Group B with five points
from five matches behind Japan and Australia, but the Brazilian has quit
his role after accusing the country's governing body of an unspecified
breach of contract." And Brian Homewood (Reuters) notes,
"Zico made his debut as Iraq coach against Jordan in September last
year. He has been in charge for 21 games, with 10 wins and six
draws." The news comes as Nouri al-Maliki is in a war of words with
ExxonMobil and other companies and as he's just broken a $4.2 billion
weapons contract weeks after he signed it. On top of that Platts reports,
"Iraq's oil production fell sharply in October to 3.035 million b/d, a
200,000 b/d decline from September output of 3.235 million b/d although
oil exports rose slightly to 2.624 million b/d, a new post-1990 record,
oil ministry figures obtained Wednesday by Platts showed." Al Mada reports
political leader and cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has declared that Nouri
al-Maliki's escalation of forces is an attempt to distract from where
the problems stem -- the one who holds the power. He decried Nouri's
recent efforts to cancel the ration card and noted the corruption
allegations regarding the $4.2 billion weapons deal with Russia.

Yesterday, Iraq was slammed with bombings. UNAMI issued the following today:

Baghdad, 28 November 2012 – The
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq
(SRSG), Mr. Martin Kobler, expresses his dismay following the series of
attacks against innocent victims, including worshippers, in several
locations throughout Iraq. كوردی

"These inhuman acts only add to the senseless suffering of innocent people and their families," the SRSG said.

Mr.
Kobler also expresses his profound sympathy to the families of the
victims, to whom he extends his sincere condolences, and wishes a speedy
recovery to the wounded.

And the violence continues today. All Iraq News reports a Falluja sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 officer (a colonel) and the life of 1 of his bodyguards while a Baquba home invasion resulted in the death of 1 police officer and his son being left injured. Sinan Salaheddin (AP) reports a Tarmiyah home invasion (targeting a Sahwa family) resulted in the deaths of 1 Sahwa, 2 women and 4 children. Xinhua adds,
"In Baghdad, two roadside bombs went off outside a liquor store near
the Nafaq al-Shurta area, in al-Jamia district in western the city,
wounding five people, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua. In a
separate incident, gunmen using silenced pistols wounded a police
officer while he was driving on al-Qanat Street in eastern Baghdad, the
source said." Meanwhile Alsumaria reports
that fisherman Taha Mahmoud Sabhan is set to be executed in Kuwait and
the Basra government is calling on Kuwait to toss aside the death
sentence.

In what's supposed to be good news, Al Rafidayn reports
that 20 women who were employees of the Centeral Bank are being
released. Why isn't that good news? In what world are bank employees
held for over a month to be interrogated or 'interrogated'? This is
unacceptable and this is the sort of thing the US allowed when they put
thug Nouri in charge in 2006 and when Barack demanded that thug Nouri
stay in charge in 2010.

This is unacceptable. 20 women whose
'crime' was working for the Central Bank have been held imprisoned for
over a month as Nouri's forces attempted to 'extract' information from
them. About what? Probably attempting to get testimony against Sinan
al-Shabibi. As the latest quarterly report from the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction noted at the end of last month:

On
October 16, 2012, the Council of Ministers dismissed Central Bank of
Iraq (CBI) Governor Sinan al-Shabibi, amid allegations of corruption
leveled against him. This peremptory and constitutionally questionalbe
move occured as an audit of the DBI's foreign currency auctions
surfaced.

Nouri made a "constitutionally
questionable move" and it's really looking like he doesn't have evidence
-- not even enough circumstantial evidence to convict in the Baghdad
courts he controls.

So it's a good guess that the time the women were imprisoned, they weren't doing arts and crafts.

On Iraqi prisons, we'll note this from the BRussels Tribunal:

Hamid
Al-Mutlaq, Deputy Prime Minister and Member of the Defense and Security
Committee alerted both Nouri Al-Maliki, Chief Commander of the Armed
Forces,

and Sadoon Al-Dulaimi, Defense Minister, about the torture in Iraqi prisons, and

said
that female prisoners are routinely raped by the prison guards.
Al-Mutlaq said in a press conference held in the Parliament that there
are many female prisoners who are tortured on a regular basis, and that
Al-Maliki and Al-Dulaimi bear full responsibility. He also added that
it's unacceptable that the perpetrating officers go unpunished for
raping women, children and torturing them. He also mentioned the names
of prisoners who died as a result of torture: Muhammad KhudairUbaid,
Muhammad MoohiSharji, Ibrahim Adnan Salih, Mahmood Ubaid Jameel, Hamid
Jameel, Fadil Abdullah, Omar Hisham, and Muhammad JasimMezhir.

Al-Mutlag
said the Iraqi army and security forces carry out many raids and
arbitrarily arrest citizens to blackmail them to be released on bail. He
said that the government and the Iraqi Parliament are responsible for
this situation of lawlessness.A security source revealed in August
that the officers in the detention centers in Baghdad practice all
kinds of torture on the prisoners, and many of them died as a result.

MP
Hamid al-Mutlaq holds Nouri al-Maliki and the Supreme Judicial
responsible for violations perpetrated against Iraqi women in prisons
and demandsthe release of these female victims and asked why such
shameful practices go unpunished.Al Mutlaq: "The security
situation has deteriorated to a limit that can not be tolerated as
violation of women honor during arrests is done by the security
services.Mutlag expressed his regret for arresting women and their daughters aged of 12 years on charges of terrorism.

This
situation of lawlessness and rape of Iraqi female prisoners is becoming
a big problem for Maliki, as more MP's, Civil Society organisations and
the Iraqi people are denouncing the abuses of the Regime's security
forcesSheikh Sufian Omar al-Naimi,Emir of Naim tribes in
Iraq, urged Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraqi parliament speaker
Osama Nujaifi to start an immediate investigation in the case of the
Iraqi women detainees who are suffering of flagrant violations in the
women prison in Baghdad.He said in a press statement issued
by his office on 25 November that "the appeals that we receive from
Iraqi jailed women on charges of multiple crimes mostly of terrorism are
subjected to torture and rape".MP Khalid Abdullah al-Alwani
called the Iraqi Government to open the women prisons for civil society
organizations in order to provide the female inmates with services and
to inspect their situations.Alwanisaid "We condemn the
government's silence towards the torture and rape crimes that are
practiced inside the women prisons."He urged the "officials
to reveal the names of the perpetrators of these shameful acts, calling
at the same time to give the guilty officers the maximum penalty", and
added that "our women's honor is the honor of all Iraqis."Hundreds
of citizens demonstrated on 26 November in downtown Ramadi, the capital
of Anbar province, urging the government to proceed with the
investigation of violation of human rights committed against women in
detention centers.Demonstrators waved banners calling on the
government to open a serious investigation of those violations and the
formation of a committee to examine the reality of female detainees
situation in prisons and to distinguish between those who were arrested
unjustly and terrorist elements.A team of the Iraqi NGO
Hammurabi Organization published on 21 Octoberits first report about the
dreadful situation in the women's prison in Baghdad and its 31
prisoners sentenced to death on terrorism charges under Article 4. The
report says women have been subjected to torture by electrocution,
beatings, and rape by the investigators during interrogation. They had
also been raped by the police and by the officers escorting them during
the transfer from Tasfirat Jail to the women's prison in Baghdad. Two
membersof the Hammurabi Organization, William Warda and Pascal Warda,
former minister of environment,were authorized to visit the prison. They
said that female prisoners in death rowsuffered from infectious
diseases and scabies. "They receive no health care and are not allowed
to bathe andcan change clothes only once a month, which aggravates their
health situation". The NGO said that the children, imprisoned with
their mothers,are "ticking time bombs that can explode any minute".The
organization also said in its report that there are 21 children, some
of them infants, living inside the women's prison "suffering a
punishment without committing any crime". A total of 414 detainees are
being held in the jail, varying in age from 20 to 65. Among the inmates
were 18 women sentenced to death, and they all complainedabout neglect
and violence in various ways.Pascal Warda who led the
Hammurabi Organization team said that the conditions of prisoners,
convicted as suicide bombers, live in miserabe and intolerable
conditions.The report quoted an unidentified judge as saying
that there were "violations throughout the investigation process,"
recommending that female security officers escort women prisoners to
reduce the chance of abuse.International human rights groups
have on several occasions complained of persistent torture at Iraqi
prisons being used to extract confessions from detainees, and also of
the continued use of secret jails.Journalist Serene Assir, member of the BRussells Tribunal, accurately described on 08 March 2012 in Iraqi Women: Resilience Amid Horror(http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/4957) the situation of female prisoners and women in general in today's Iraq.Thousands
of women are currently in prison under the jurisdiction of the Ministry
of Interior or the US and UK-trained military. Others, according to
veteran Iraqi activist Asma al-Haidari, languish in "secret prisons,
headed by militias loyal to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki."The
use of torture and sexual abuse in prisons has become systematic in
Iraq, al-Haidari said, thanks to training not only by the US and the UK,
but also Israel and Iran.While in detention, many women
suffer rape and become mothers to children they never wanted. Some are
raped in front of their husbands and children, as a way to humiliate
the family and extract "confessions" from men suspected of resisting
against a criminal regime. Some of the women are arrested and behind
bars instead of their husbands.The degradation of secularism
in Iraqi society, under the weight of Iranian-trained and backed
militias, has also given rise to new social dynamics, for which women
paid the heaviest price.It is hard to imagine just how the
effects of a decade of oppression can be undone. For one, the
dismantling of Iraq's state institutions in 2003 put hundreds of
thousands of women out of work. A 2007 BRussells Tribunal dossier on
women estimated that until 2003, 72 percent of public sector workers,
including teachers, were women.In spite of the damage, many
Iraqi women have continued to take an active, even heroic role. "Iraqi
women have been very resilient," said Zangana. "Since 2003, and
increasingly since February 2011, women have been at the forefront of
protests denouncing the occupation and the regime."Violations
of women rights and torture and rape of women has been introduced by
the US Occupying Forces. In June 2010 the General Secretary of the Union
of Political Prisoners and Detainees in Iraq, Muhammad Adham al-Hamd
declared that the US occupation administration in Iraq relied on
systematic rape, torture, and sadistic treatment of Iraqi women
prisoners in its prison camps in the country. Al-Hamd said that the
enormous crimes being committed against women in the prison camps in
occupied Iraq had the support and blessings of the US military, for whom
the practices served as a means to bring psychological pressure on men
engaged in the Resistance, in an attempt to break their spirit and
fighting will.Muhammad Adham al-Hamd made the comments in a
statement regarding reports that confirmed the presence of large
numbers of women in the American-run prison camps – women who are
detained solely to be raped and abused in order to bring pressure upon
their husbands, brothers, sons or fathers.Years of US/UK
occupation of Iraq have affected Iraq's social fabric and contributed to
a serious deterioration of Iraqi women's rights. As a signatory to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW), the Government of Iraq (GoI) should urgently take the
necessary measures to improve gender equality and women's rights.The
US and UK must be held accountable for thisdeterioration, for the
destruction of Iraq'ssocial fabric and for all other crimes against
humanity they have inflicted upon the people of Iraq.

Al Mada reports
political leader and cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has declared that Nouri
al-Maliki's escalation of forces is an attempt to distract from where
the problems stem -- the one who holds the power. He decried Nouri's
recent efforts to cancel the ration card and noted the corruption
allegations regarding the $4.2 billion weapons deal with Russia.

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